Death... and me

3065  Punches and Kicks

Yuan continued to swim down while Rean stayed on his back. "By the way, what did you do with those Spatial Rifts? What was the cause of those explosions? Did you destroy the Spatial Rifts?"

Rean nodded and then shook his head. "It wouldn't be entirely correct to say I destroyed them. Spatial Rifts are breaches in space itself. They aren't physical items that you can truly 'destroy' as you mentioned. I only caused them to collapse. Of course, there is nothing wrong with saying that I destroyed them since I managed to eliminate their existences. Just keep this fact in mind, as it might be helpful in the future."

Yuan got even more curious. Rean seemed to know things that even the Transition Realm experts of the Saramina Sea Demon Palace knew. "So... how did you make them collapse? The elders that usually come during the safer times still don't try to do anything to them and avoid as much as possible. I don't think any of them can 'destroy' them like you did."

"Oh! It isn't all that hard," Rean explained. "As long as you know how space works, you can cause another rift to appear with a strong enough attack right at the center of the rift. Both rifts will pretty much nullify each other, resulting in those explosions you just saw."

Rean continued. "The reason Spatial Rifts even exist in this place is because Space here is extremely fragile. For example, I wouldn't be able to achieve this result outside with my actual cultivation. I guess I would need to be at least in the Saint Realm to force any chances in space at all outside, let alone a rift."

"Know... how space works?" Yuan was as confused as ever. "And how do you do that?"

"You will start to comprehend it when you reach the Void Tempering Realm," Rean spoke.

Yet, Yuan had never heard about it. "Void... Tempering Realm? Is it the same as Transition Realm?"

"No," Rean shook his head. "Void Tempering is the next Realm after Transition."

Yuan swallowed hard. "Then... does that mean you had experienced that realm before."

Rean faintly smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he jumped from Yuan's back as his Black Star appeared again. His Bright Red Lightning quickly circulated, and another attack went out, reaching a point just a few tens of meters away.

*Boom!*

Yuan wasn't slow this time. He quickly got run from the area, and the explosion of Elements and Space Power only forced him some distance back from the epicenter of the explosion.

"Aren't you a smart guy? Hahaha!" Rean asked and laughed. Then, he changed the topic while sitting once again on Yuan's back. "With this Spatial Rift now, I'm certain. The Spatial Rifts aren't being generated randomly. They are reacting to the existences that enter this Heavenly Marine Tunnel area."

Yuan nodded. "I think I heard the elders mentioning something like that before when talking to Tana. However, during the safer times, this phenomenon is a lot less frequent."

"You could have warned me," Rean patted Yuan.

"Sorry," Yuan quickly apologized. "I had completely forgotten about it since no one comes here outside the safe time window. Your words just revived this memory."

"It's fine," Rean wasn't really bothered. This place was truly a risk to him. "In any case, the Spatial Rifts are appearing due to the fragile space, and they always appear close to us on purpose. I'm pretty sure this is a defensive mechanism. Well, whatever it might be protecting, it is not our problem. Yuan, go faster."

"What?" Yuan didn't want to move fast at all. "What if we fall inside a Spatial Rift?"

"We won't," Rean was confident, though. "Now I understand how the Rifts are taking form. Why do you think I was able to target one so far away this last time? Just trust me and dive as fast as possible. There is no need to hold back."

"O-Okay!" Yuan gritted his teeth and accelerated with everything he had. His speed was far above any of the other groups that arrived earlier. No amount of treasures or ability would be able to make up for Rean's experience in this place.

At the same time, Rean contacted Roan. 'I need a favor from you.'

Roan, who was having a spar with Diliy, stopped for a moment. After hearing Rean's words, he pondered a bit and nodded. 'Alright. I'll take some free time when the moment comes.'

Roan returned his attention to Diliy, who was just forced back after Roan kicked him. "You are still struggling to look at me as a whole when we are crossing swords."

Diliy sheathed his sword and sighed. "No sword cultivator fights like you and your brother do, you know? The idea of using the other parts of our bodies to attack and defend while holding a sword simply doesn't cross our minds. It is just too risky since we might have our limbs cut off we we use anything else other than the sword to block and attack. It is hard to change this habit."

Roan knew that already, so he also sent his White Star away. "Let's change this a little. The only way for you to get used to paying attention to my whole body is to fight it without a sword. From here onwards, we will spend two hours of every day fighting barehanded. Otherwise, your brain just won't register anything else other than the sword. DO NOT use your hands like swords like we did when we met a few days ago. Close your fists and be prepared to punch out, understood?"

Tassio and Woterto, who were always there watching, were taken aback. A sword training where no swords were used? Have they ever done something like that? Swords were always their central point of attention. Would it be of any use for real?"

Roan glanced at the two. "The same goes for the bystanders. You two, put your swords away and start sparing already. We will switch partners every thirty minutes."

The two looked at Diliy, who nodded at them. "Do as he said."

And so, three of the most respected Sword Cultivators of the country began to trade punches and kicks right there and then.

And as always, any Golden Tickets and Stones are welcome. ;)